I have to say I'm truly amazed when someone cries foul or censorship in this forum because for the simple reason that I happen to hold many views that in all probablity I'm the only one here who holds them and expresses them. With that said, I've never been threatened, banned or otherwise censored in my political views expressed here and even those that have disagreed and in some cases very adamantly have never to my knowledge suggested I be banned, barred or otherwise. I'm sure many would love to throw a muzzle on me from time to time
but I'll admit to making statements and comments knowing that would be a likely reaction. There are always many points of view to many situations and everyone can see things from a different perspective.
You can post a different perspective and even hold a view different from a larger group but there are 2 very important things that I hope will always be remembered and that is to always respect another view when different from your own and don't always be combative about every single issue coming down the pipe. WE (including me here as well) need to all remember that one! My guess is that this combative nature more than any other is what has turned people off to so many folks in various forums that have banned people and I've no doubt this could apply here as well. This never wins you any friends at all even when they disagree with your point.
There are people in this forum who have made comments I disagree with but in other areas they made comments I totally agree with and in some cases they made a point of humor and I laughed with them. If you find that you always disagree with most everyone in every case then I'd suggest you go look in the mirror for the problem. Crying here about being censored or banned IMO is not the answer.
Also, the 1st Amendment doesn't apply here because the 1st amendment only applies to the gov't in it's relationship with the citizenery. The owner of this forum controls the conversation and you voluntarily interact here. There is not force exerted on your life or person so no violation of any law is taking place. Act with a certain degree of civility and I'm of the opinion you can say just about anything politically speaking you want to in this forum and no one will ban or censor your comments. If you can't handle opposition to the opinion, then don't come off the porch to run with the big dogs.
Even though I'm saddened that certain people are no longer here to express their views, I also saw these same people were unable to accept other points of view without commenting back in a combative nature and IMO they were so obcessed with themselves and their opinions they seemed to always attack the other poster more than the opinion expressed when commenting back. Over time, this lead others to be on the offensive from the outset and allowed certain persons to appear as though they were defending themselves in a personal attack when in fact their actions instigated the scenarios. If you look at the total history of the postings you could see this pattern. Again, I liked the opinions being here but the person(s) behind them could just never play nice as the agenda was something completely different. I think given certain situations, the powers that be were given no choice to take what actions they saw necessary. Ironically, some of those effected would be the first to scream that democracy failed in the last 2 Presidental elections (I didn't like either side so there you go) but maybe they can take comfort in knowing that in all probability DEMOCRACY was met here with majority approval. I guess you could say you were slain by you own weapon of choice. You're another victim of democracy!
I once posted this and I'd like to quote myself because I believe it to be 100% true for all of us.
Nobody has died and left either of us in charge as God and never will so stop taking yourself so damn serious. At best, we are nothing but hot globs of gas on a neural network and nothing more. That is the extent of the realm of our kingdom! Odds are, no matter what we say and how hard we try, neither of us will change the world as much as we may like too.
If you can't express a point, have a smile on your face and laugh with the other fella, then life must be a terrible existance. Fix that and you can probably post any point of view you wish and be here the next day to talk about it!
JMHO!